Do Stuff Monday #3

Good morning everyone! 

Here is my list for the week. 

We just got back from a 3 day trip to visit our parents, mine live in NE Texas and my husbands live just across the state line in Arkansas.  School starts here soon so I will be busier with my grands that have parents that work the school calendar. 

I got up and got a few things done already but most jobs will get done on childless days. 

Laundry won't be bad- there is a load in both the washer and dryer now and just a few more things to do

We'll be eating good this week. My brother got us a watermelon from the Hope Arkansas watermelon festival. He grew the squash and zucchini.  I grew the tomatos and the peaches are also from Arkansas.  But more about peaches tomorrow!

While I was at my parents, I helped clean out some closets and cabinets, my mom really likes to buy. craft supplies and to make things. I brought back lots of her extra supplies, some of her hand works and some of her works in progress.....I'll be unpacking these this week, 

Hope you all have a good week

If you do stuff, stuff gets done!   

Sweet things to share

I did some baking this week - most of it was shared with my parents and brothers. 

Carrot bread, oatmeal cookies, granola bars, and a can of roasted pecans

These oatmeal cookies from allrecipes.com are so quick to mix up and really good. 

I used pecans instead of raisins. 

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Oatmeal-Raisin-Cookies-IX/Detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Thumb&e11=oatmeal%20raisin%20cookies&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Home%20Page&soid=sr_results_p1i12

I tripled this carrot bread recipe and it made 2 big 9 inch loaves. It is really good too, kind of like carrot cake but less sweet. I mixed in chopped pecans instead of sprinkling them on top. 

Also, the 2 big loaves needed more than an hour to bake done. 

This granola bar recipe is a new one that I tried and turned out great. They would be a good lunchbox treat. They come out crunchy and chewy, like the store bought kind, but they taste so much better, 

Mix 4 cups of quick oatmeal and 2 cups of rice crispy type cereal in a big bowl. 

In a small saucepan, heat 1 stick real butter, 1/2 cup honey and 2/3 cup brown sugar. Stir often over medium heat. When it starts a low bubble, let it cook for 2 more minutes. 

Now, pour the cooked syrup over the cereals and mix well, I used a rubber spatula. 

Press mixture into a greased 13x19 pan. 

Top with chocolate chips, nuts, coconut, whatever you like. Press in so they adhere. 

Now chill for 20 minutes or so and then they will slice nicely. 

It will make 18 good sized bars or you can cut them smaller.

These 2 sweet Grandsons thought the carrot bread was yummy

JJ - a photo of him that is just sweet....

Do Stuff Monday #2

When I was getting ready for bed last night, I started thinking about my to-dos and it seemed really big and daunting. So I got out paper and pen then, started writing it down, and it is not really that big of a list after all. 

Here it is......

So far this week,  I only have 2 loads of laundry and they are in the washer and dryer.

I plan to mow on Wednesday. I am hoping if I do it midweek, then I can skip a week, if the grass doesn't grow too fast :)

I've also cleaned out my purse. 

I noticed this weekend that my purse seemed too heavy so this morning, I dumped it out

Yikes! I found so many receipts, expired sale ads, duplicates of tissue holders, shopping bags, ink pens, hand lotions, flashlights........

Some stuff went in the trash,

Change went into the piggy bank

Important receipts were filed away,

Duplicates were put back in the first purse and I switched everything out to another purse. 

Better, right? 

About my Cath Kidston bags, I bought them in January 2012 on half price clearance with some birthday money. They still look like new and are the only purses I use.

They are expensive when bought at regular price but Cath Kidston has sales often and I have seen good deals on EBay too. 

I hope you are all having a good Monday and getting lots done! I am off to clean floors and and bathrooms, organize the fridges and do some baking........

What I did Wednesday

As I planned on Monday, I mowed the front yard this morning before it got hot. 

I also cleaned the floors and did all the laundry. 

I should of taken a before picture but I only have this after photo of the spray paint job that redid a metal silverware holder that my daughter passed on to me. (We always seem to be passing things back and forth and it works out quite beneficial to both of us)

The bottom of the holder shows the original paint.  I thought it might be hard to get the inside divided part painted but spray paint covered it all completely.

This napkin-utensil holder will be very handy, especially when we have a big group for a meal. 

I started having some seasonal allergies problems on Monday. By Tuesday evening, I took Benadryl which cleared up my head but also put me fast asleep by 7 p.m. 

I was feeling a lot better today but since seasonal allergies hang around, I knew I should go buy some non drowsy allergy medicine and I went to Walmart as I figured medicine would be cheapest there,

Walmart had clearance items everywhere but I only found one thing to buy- This multiple pack of little girl undies for my youngest granddaughter.  

At the factory, it held 9 pair but somebody took out a pair so this now pack of 8 was clearanced to $1.

My local Walmart uses these red code 4 tags when they mark merchandise down with deep cuts. 

I have learned to spot them :)

Hope you have all had a great Wednesday! 

God Moments : A Year in the Word

God Moments : A Year in the Word

I got this free book from Amazon a few weeks ago and am really enjoying its sweet and meaningful devotions. 

When I looked on Amazon this morning, the kindle version book is still free. 

The book starts with January 1 and has a devotion for each day. I started the book at the beginning, even though it was July, and read 2-3 each day.  

You don't have to have to a Kindle to read Kindle books. Amazon has free Kindle apps for most phones, computers, tablets or whatever device you use. 

Less busy on Wednesday

I didn't have much on my list today. I cut out coupons, worked on my manicure and went to the bank for cash so while I was out, I stopped at Walmart, Dollar Tree and Aldi.

Walmart. -used 2 coupons from Sundays paper for lipstick and nail polish. 

  The gallon can of tomato sauce is make a big batch of pasta sauce to freeze.

Aldi- rest of the groceries were bought there. We didn't need much this week.

Most of the granola bars will go to work with my husband to keep in his desk drawer.

The other snacks are for the grands snack box.

See that clear tub in the pantry floor? It holds little bags chips, fruit snacks, granola bars. One of the grandchildren has a hard time when they have to leave so I first started the box so that child could get a treat to have on the way home and to make leaving not so difficult.

It worked, goodbyes are much easier and all the grands know where the snack box is now.

Dollar Tree - they have a new batch of solar powered wiggle animals. It is rainy today so neither one is swinging but they will be when the sun reappears.

This is the little measuring cup I got at the thrift store yesterday for 25 cents. It really is tiny, each line is 1 tablespoon or a total of 1/4 cup.  I think I will use it often, so many times I need a small amount like 2 T of oil or milk for a recipe......

Also yesterday, I cut back some of the dead zinnia and put them in a paper bag to finish drying. Each zinnia is filled with many seeds. I should be ready for next spring to grow more zinnias!

Supper tonight was some leftover grilled chicken legs, a big tossed salad and stir fried cabbage.

Grandchildren will be here the next couple days so housework will be done only on a must do basis. I won't be doing any big projects either, just watching grands ride bikes or play with toys and I sure lots of hugs will be involved too. 

Do Stuff Tuesday

I wrote another to do list with tasks I hope to do for the week, not just today. 

I fixed my husband's lunch bag first thing. 

Then I got busy with cleaning.  I vacuumed the carpets in the bedrooms and then shampooed those carpets. I used the homemade cleaner again and was very happy with how well it cleaned. 

Homemade carpet cleaner solution

I also cleaned and mopped both bathrooms and washed those rugs too.

In the garage, I swept and threw a few things away.

After I did the cleaning and found some spiders in the garage, I put down some bug spray in the garage and in the house. That made the house smell so I left for awhile. 

I stopped at one thrift store and found some play clothes. 

I also found a cute little 4 tablespoon liquid measure cup (it is in the dishwasher now, I will try to post a picture, I think it will be very handy!)

If you are not from the South, our supper will probably look and sound strange but it was delicious.

Garden tomatoes with cottage cheese, fried okra and kraut with weenies. The weinies are leftover Hebrew 97% fat free kosher beef franks. My husband bought the tomatoes and okra from a farmer selling them in a gas station parking lot. 

It's not crossed off on my list but I did finish the napkins. I made them from a table cloth bought on clearance years ago.  I used part of the table cloth to make an ironing board cover.  Their was a big odd-shaped scrap left. Last week, I cut it into as many 16 inch squares as possible.  After I machine narrow hemmed any raw edges, I ended up with 11 red checked napkins. 

I won't need to do much cleaning the next few days. 

Yesterday post got the nicest comments.  

I really enjoy reading what you all have been doing---

If you do stuff, stuff gets done! 

Do stuff Monday

Today was a free day- no appointments and no grandchildren - so I wrote out my to do list with more on it than I usually try to get done in one day. Surprisingly and happily, I got it all done my mid afternoon.

Scratching through completed jobs on a to do list is almost as satisfying as finishing a job.

This is a not a common sight in laundry rooms- empty baskets ! But that won't last too long....

The biggest job today was mowing and edging the front and back yard. Cooler temperatures and a nice breeze made this job easier. Here are the jumbo zinnias in the front flower bed - but please just look at the pretty flowers and ignore the grass growing around them, the weeds flat got away from me from this year. 

I also made a quick trip into Ulta to get some hair products my daughter in law recommended

And changed my Jamberry nail stickers. This is my second time applying them and I really like them but there is a bit of learning curve involved. The second time was much easier and faster than the first. 

Supper will be leftovers from Sunday along with some fresh tomatoes and cottage cheese so that meal won't take much time. 

I also got out this sampler and zigzagged the edge of the linen so it won't fray while I stitch it. I plan to start stitching it this evening. 

I am already thinking about tomorrow's list. Clipping and filing yesterday's coupons will be on it as well as straightening the 3 extra bedrooms and bathrooms. 

I hope you have had a productive Monday too! 

Just a funny for you

This is our grandson JJ, 15  months old. His big sister Elizabeth is behind the door in the bathroom.

His momma says JJ talks to Elizabeth under the door whenever Elizabeth is in the bathroom,

Hey- whatcha doing in there? The big people won't let me in the bathroom since they caught me playing in the toilet a few months ago........

Lunch for a group

Here is what I served for a recent meal when we had 12 guests.

Easy crock pot beef tips - except I baked ours in a Dutch oven in the regular oven- doubled the recipe

Make ahead mashed potatoes - this recipe does not use cream cheese like most make ahead recipes call for  - also doubled this recipe

Baked carrots

Green beans

Worlds Best Dinner Rolls - I followed the recipe exactly except I mixed them all by hand in a Tupperware fix and mix bowl. The recipe says to shape the dough into 24 rolls but I made them a regular dinner roll and had about 40. At 24, they would be very large rolls I think, more like a jumbo sandwich bun. 

Dessert was fresh fruit -a Georgia seedless watermelon, red grapes, strawberries and fresh pineapple-and a bag of Chips Ahoy cookies I got on sale for 99 cents. 

I usually bake a dessert or 2 but my husband and I have not been eating dessert for about 2 months and with all the other cooking, I just didn't feel like baking a dessert too. Unfortunately, 3 of the guests were disappointed with my baking slack off.  They did not leave hungry though, they just ate extra rolls and watermelon. 

Beverages were plain and sweet tea. 

I recommend all of the recipes.  And that is one of the ways I feed a crowd. 

Spur of the moment yard sale

We were out early this morning as we took the oldest grandson home after a sleepover here.

I had not planned to yard sale, but as we got home, we saw 2 sales right in our neighborhood.

The first sale had so much nice stuff and at very good prices. I considered buying lots of things but decided to just get what we needed.

This heavy patio set was $50. It needs a new paint job but other than that, it is perfect. It is very sturdy and should survive our harsh weather.  There is a hole in the center of the table to hold a big umbrella.

It came with 5 chairs, 2 are rockers and 3 are regular chairs.
We are really happy to get this. We've looked at new patio sets but they seem to be not sturdy, or too fancy or expensive or not strong enough for the Oklahoma weather. 

I also picked out a few play clothes for the oldest grandson. They were 50 cents each.

I was in Walmart yesterday and checked out the $1 rack that is still in the action aisle beside the shoe department. It was full of knit leggings in very bright colors - all seemed to be for babies size 0-3 months and junior girls size 0-2.  It was nothing we needed but I will keep checking that rack when I go to Walmart. 

Recent bargains

This bargain is about as good as bargains get.

I rarely shop at Walmart but it has been so hot and I had a short list with coupons so I went to Walmart to get everything and not make multiple stops. 

I walked through the shoe department just as they were doing some major shoe clearances.

These are all little boy shoes, sizes 7 through 12. They were all discounted to $1 a pair! 

It looks like lots of shoes but we have 3 young grandsons and there were many more pairs of shoes on clearance.

I also got 3 bags of socks and 1 pack of little girl undies - these were bags that had been ripped open- they were discounted to $1 as well.

The black socks bags held the full amount but the girl socks and undies were missing a few- I am not complaining though - $1 is an amazing price, complete bag or not. 

My daughter and I have both been back to Walmart, hoping to be there if and when little girl shoes get marked down to $1. We saw the men's and women's clearances and my daughter and I each got one pair of walking type shoes for ourselves. 

No success yet on shoes for the granddaughters but I'll let you know if we score. 

Have you found any great sales this month?

$1 flip flops dressed up with help from Pinterest

This $1 pair of pink flip flops is from Walmart, the ribbon is 1 1/2 inch wide and I just hand sewed it to cover the straps. The bows and buttons were hand sewn and then secured with a dab of E6000 glue.

The second pair were from Dollar Tree. They are not as thick as the Walmart one.
I followed this tutorial pretty much exactly as written.
Covered flip flops tutorial

I have been wearing them around the house and they are very comfy. I wonder how sturdy they are and if they will hold together, so far so good! 

If you want to fancy up flip flops, just search on Pinterest for flip flops DIY. There are many many cute ideas.  

First day of July

Don't forget to flip over your calendar pages

I like patriotic scenes so much that I have 2 calendars in the laundry room.

Both of these calendars were mailed to us from charity groups.

2 grandchildren a year ago- they are both much bigger now!

And clean out the expired June coupons from your coupon stash.